Name: Yuan Baoju
Date of birth and death: 507-551, at the age of 44, a puppet emperor is quite long-lived;
Reigned: 535-551, reigned for 16 years
Origin: Grandson of Emperor Xiaowen Yuanhong, son of King Yuanyu of Jingzhao
How to ascend to the throne: After the division of the Northern Wei Dynasty, it was supported by Yuwen Tai
How to die: Sickness and death in the palace, a puppet emperor who received a good death, can also be regarded as the first person in history;
Meaning of the imperial title: The title is Emperor Wen, which is probably also a reward given to him by the Yuwen family for his obedient behavior;
Meaning of the era name: Great unification, which should be Yuwen Tai's ideal, from the new unification of the Northern Wei Dynasty, and even the unification of China;
Principal Auxiliary Minister: Yuwen Tai
Major policies of government and influence on the dynasty: an emperor in name, but in an absolutely weak position. In desperation, he chose to live in peace with the powerful minister Yuwentai, and let go of everything to Yuwentai, never expressing opinions and dissatisfaction, so that Yuwentai had no chance to usurp the throne or let Yuwentai be comfortable enough to be too lazy to usurp the throne. Even if it allows the Yuan family's dynasty to continue for decades on the surface, this is his greatest contribution.
Life:
Speaking of Yuan Baoju, it basically means Yuwen Tai, because Yuan Baoju is Yuwen Taili's puppet, the real "thread-pulling doll", and the whole life is watching the performances of Yuwen Tai and Gao Huan of Eastern Wei.
If you want to talk about Yuwen Tai, you have to start from the end of the Northern Wei Dynasty. The rise of the famous Guanlong military clique is the rise of the Yuwen family. The Yuwen family was known as one of the Eight Pillar States, Li Yuanjia was also one of the Eight Pillar States, and the Sui Wen Emperor Yang Jian Yang Family was one of the twelve generals of the next rank.
Yuwen Jia's becoming the Eight Pillar State was basically the credit of Yuwen Tai, who made great achievements in his southern conquest of the Northern War, and later replaced the army leader He Bayue who died in battle as the ruler of the Northern Wei army at that time, and then achieved the Yuwen family's claim to the emperor to establish the Northern Zhou Dynasty.
During the reign of Emperor Xiaojing of Northern Wei, the Liubianzhen Rebellion caused national unrest, including the Guanlong region. The Yuwen family was originally a border resident of Wuchuan Town, one of the six border towns. He joined the rebels during the Liubianzhen Uprising, and was then defeated by Erzhu Rong's government forces, and Yuwen Tai joined Erzhu Rong's army and became a government army under He Bayue.
The uprising in Liubian town had just been put down, and the uprising in the Guanlong area had risen again, so Erzhu Rong sent He Bayue to command a large army to conquer the Guanlong area, and Yuwen Tai was also one of the commanders of the army. Later, He Bayue was killed, and Yuwen Tai saw an opportunity to gather the army with personal prestige and become the leader of the army. Since then, he has led Li Hu, Li Bi and others, that is, the so-called eight-pillar state clan (in fact, only the six-pillar state really commands the army, two of which are nominal royal families, and there are no subordinates and troops, so originally one pillar state commanded two generals, but in fact there were only twelve generals under the eight-pillar state, because only the six-pillar state had subordinate generals, so there were only twelve generals).
After Yuwen Tai took control of the army, he first quelled the uprising in the Guanlong area, and then began to run the Guanlong region. Far away from the capital, including Erzhu Rong, Gao Huan and other families fighting with the Yuan Dynasty Northern Wei Emperor. He quietly developed his strength in the Guanlong region and became a strongman who dominated one side and established the Western Wei regime.
Yuan Baoju was the first emperor of Western Wei after the division of Northern Wei, and when it came to The Northern Wei Emperor Yuan Shanjian and Gao Jia's three fathers and sons, the previous emperor of Yuan Shanjian was Yuan Xiu, because he could not eradicate Gao Huan's power as a powerful vassal, and was afraid of being deposed and killed by Gao Huan. Therefore, he fled to Yuwen Tai's sphere of influence, and Yuwen Tai took Yuan Xiu in, still supporting Yuan Xiu as emperor. Gao Huan established Yuan Shanjian as emperor in Yicheng, which means that the Northern Wei Dynasty had two emperors of the Yuan family in the east and the west. Therefore, history calls these years the Eastern Wei and the Western Wei, and the Northern Wei is gone.
As an emperor who could escape from the capital, Yuan Xiu would naturally not be willing to be a puppet emperor when he arrived at Yuwen Tai's territory. And Yuwen Tai in the chaotic world, with his own control of the army and territory, it is estimated that he has long wanted to find an opportunity to claim the emperor himself, but there is no reason, the next emperor fell from the sky. The final result can be imagined.
Yuan Xiu was proclaimed emperor by Yuwen Tai in July, with the capital Chang'an, and was poisoned by Yuwen Tai in December. The emperor of the other yuan baoju is the protagonist we are going to talk about today. Yuan Baoju ascended the throne, Yuwen Tai controlled the military and political power, and the emperor could only be a puppet.
When Yuan Baoju passively became emperor, it is estimated that Yuan Baoju also refused in his heart, who can't see that this is a puppet? If you are not careful, your life will be gone. When it is not, it depends on when the Yuwen family usurped the throne. The Gao family in the east used three generations to usurp the throne successfully, and the speed of the Yuwen family in the west did not know whether it would be faster.
But the world is so unexpected, Yuan Baoju, the emperor, was 16 years old, and finally died in the palace, becoming the only puppet emperor in history who could get a good death and die on the throne.
And the most fundamental reason why Yuan Baoju was able to live a long life and die was to honestly be a puppet, never fight with the Yuwen family for power and profit, and even did not say much. Even for the sake of politics, even his wife was forced to die, and he could bear it. Because at that time, the northern side of the Western Wei was the Ruoran Steppe Empire, and after the Northern Wei Split and the internal turmoil was unbearable, it was unable to resist Rouran at all. In order to maintain the power struggle, Yuwen Tai suggested that Yuan Baoju depose his own empress and make Princess Rouran empress instead. Yuan Baoju was powerless to fight, and could only cry and depose his empress wife. Later, not long after, Rouran was pressed by a large army, and the steppe Hanzi believed that Yuan Baoju did not favor Princess Rouran, so he had to kill Yuan Baoju's original wife and give Princess Rouran a blow, so that Rouran could retire.
The helpless reality is so absurd, the puppet emperor is powerless to resist, and finally Yuan Baoju's original wife is forced to commit suicide. Later, after Yuan Baoju died, he was buried with his wife according to his will before his death, which was also considered to be a husband and wife.
During the reign of Yuan Baoju for more than ten years, the northern land was mainly a war between Yuwen Tai and Gao Huan. Both sides want to annex each other, reunify the North, and achieve peace. But the two sides come and go, Gao Huan relies on strength, Yuwen Tai relies on luck, has been playing for more than ten years, and no one can help anyone. In the end, Yuwen Tai had a longer life, and after surviving Gao Huan, Yuwen Tai had the upper hand. Although the process of this war between the two sides is very cruel, it is also very exciting.
In July 534, Yuwen Tai supported Yuan Xiu as emperor, and poisoned Yuan Xiu in December.
In January 535, after rejecting Yuwen Tai's request for support three times, Yuan Baoju officially ascended the throne as emperor and changed Yuan to Datong, and Western Wei was officially established in Chang'an. The power was owned by Yuwen Tai, who called himself the Chancellor of the Imperial Household and the Governor of the Chinese and Foreign Militaries and the Great March.
In 535, Gao Huan of Eastern Wei sent troops to attack Western Wei in three ways, and Yuwen Tai garrisoned Bashang to meet them. Yuwen Tai was highly skilled, sent troops to attack qilu, broke the Eastern Wei army, and killed more than 10,000 Eastern Wei troops, and Gao Huan's general Dou Tai committed suicide. Yuwen Tai won the first set.
In 537, Gao Huan led an army of 200,000 to attack Western Wei. Gao Huan was anxious to take revenge, did not adopt a sound strategy, and divided his troops into rapid advances. Yuwen Tai set up an ambush at Weiqu, defeated Gao Huan in one fell swoop, and captured more than 80,000 Eastern Wei soldiers. The second time, Yuwen Tai won again.
In 538, Gao Huan's generals Hou Jing and Gao Ao Cao besieged Luoyang Jin YongCheng, and Yuwen Tai led his troops to rescue gao Huan's general Mo Duolou. The Eastern Wei army retreated overnight, and Yuwen Tai led his troops in pursuit. After catching up with the two armies, Yuwen Tai's warhorse was frightened and threw Yuwen Tai to the ground, but was rescued by a governor named Li Mu. Yuwen Tai then reversed the battle situation again, took the initiative, and defeated the Eastern Wei army, which was considered to be completely destroyed, and even the leading general Gao Ao Cao was killed by the Western Wei army.
In 543, because Gao Zhongmi, a high-ranking official of Eastern Wei, wanted to surrender to Western Wei, Yuwen Tai led his troops to meet him, and Gao Huan led his troops to pursue, and the two sides launched a major battle on the Yellow River. Gao Huan's general Peng Le rushed straight into the Northern Wei army with several thousand cavalry, and Western Wei was defeated. Gao Huan then sent Peng Le to pursue the defeated Yuwen Tai. After Yuwen Tai was caught up, he begged Peng Le bitterly, and finally Peng Le actually let Gonta go. A few days later, Yuwen Tai gathered his army to attack again, defeated the Eastern Wei army, most of the Eastern Wei army was captured, and Gao Huan even shot his horse, and returned in defeat.
In 546, Gao Huan personally led more than 100,000 troops to besiege the City of Yubi in Western Wei. The siege lasted for two months, with countless casualties and an inability to break through. In the end, Gao Huan fell ill on the battlefield due to his thoughts, and could only retire to the army, and died of illness the following year. After Gao Huan's death, Eastern Wei was unstable internally, and rebellions increased everywhere. Yuwen Tai began to take the initiative, and then successively occupied the thirteen prefectures of Henan in Eastern Wei, and also took advantage of the civil unrest in the Southern Dynasty to capture yizhou, Xiangyang and other large counties, and began to show the image of prosperity.
In 551, Emperor Wen of Western Wei died, and the crown prince Yuan Qin succeeded him as emperor of Western Wei;
In 552, the Southern Dynasty was divided due to civil unrest, and Emperor Wu of Liang's seventh son Xiao Xuan declared himself emperor at Jiangling, established Southern Liang, and declared himself a vassal to Yuwen Tai.
In September 554, The Deposed Emperor Yuan Qin of Western Wei was killed by Yuwen Tai and replaced by Yuan Qin's younger brother Tuoba Kuo the Prince of Qi as emperor, as Emperor Gong of Western Wei. (The Yuan clan has been changed back to the original surname "Tuoba")
In 554, Xiao Xuan and Yuwen Tai had a dispute over the border issue, and Yu Wentai sent troops to attack Jiangling and kill Xiao Yi;
In April 556, Yuwen Tai went on a tour of the north, but became seriously ill on the way, so he urgently summoned his nephew Yuwen Hu to entrust the aftermath and asked Yu Wen Hu to assist his young son and continue the great cause of Western Wei. In October, Yuwen Tai died, and his son Yuwen Jue inherited his title and power, and Yuwen Hu took over the power to assist the young lord.
In 557, at the age of 16, Yuwen Jue, under the control of Yuwen Hu, deposed Tuoba Kuo of Western Wei, successfully usurped the throne, and officially established Northern Zhou, and Tuoba Kuo was killed shortly after.
However, Yuwen Jue was only a puppet, and not long after he ascended the throne, a conflict broke out with Yuwen Jue. Also in 557, Yuwen Hu, enraged, forced his cousin Emperor Yuwen Jue to abdicate and made Yuwen Taishu's eldest son Yuwen Yu (宇文毓) emperor, the Ming Emperor of Northern Zhou. Yuwen Hu was still in power. Not long after, Yuwen Jue was also killed, killing two emperors in a row in a year, the profession of the puppet emperor was really very dangerous, and only Yuan Baoju succeeded in ending well.